# personal

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/ · frequency rank #640

## Definitions
1. Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
2. Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
3. Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
4. Intended for sexual use.
5. Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
6. Done in person; without an intermediary.
7. Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
8. Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.
9. Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.
10. Denoting ownership.

## Etymology
From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel.

## Easily confused with
- **persons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/personal-vs-persons)
- **personnel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/personal-vs-personnel)
- **personals** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/personal-vs-personals)
- **personally** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/personal-vs-personally)
- **person** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/person-vs-personal)
- **persona** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/persona-vs-personal)
- **personable** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/personable-vs-personal)

## Common misspellings (12)
`eprsonal`, `perosnal`, `perrsonal`, `persnoal`, `persoanl`, `personall`, `personla`, `personnal`, `perssonal`, `pesronal`, `ppersonal`, `presonal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/personal